LG Uplus added a total of 1.48 million 5G subscribers during last year
Korean operator LG Uplus ended the fourth quarter of 2022 with 6.11 million 5G subscribers, up 32.11% year-on-year, according to the company’s latest earnings statement.
The telco added a total of 1.48 million 5G subscribers during last year, while total net additions in the fourth quarter reached nearly 378,000.
The Korean company also noted that 5G subscribers accounted for 53.5% of the telco’s overall mobile base at the end of 2022, up from 40.5% at the end of 2021.
Net profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 totaled 159.4 billion won ($127.7 million), compared with a net profit of 101.8 billion won in Q4 2021. For full 2022, the company’s net profits amounted to 662.6 billion won, up 8.5% year-on-year.
LG Uplus’ Q4 revenues amounted to 3.61 trillion won, flat compared to the same period in 2021, while annual revenues totaled 13.90 trillion won, up 0.4% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the carrier’s operating profit rose 81.1% year-on-year to 286.6 billion won in the fourth quarter, For full 2022, operating profit reached 1.081 trillion won, up 10.4% year-on-year.
LG Uplus also said that sales from its wireless division reached 1.57 trillion won in the fourth quarter, up 3.3% year-on-year.
In 2021, Nokia signed an agreement with LG Uplus to expand 5G coverage by installing small cell solutions from Nokia’s AirScale portfolio across the country. Under the terms of the deal, Nokia was expected to install its small cell AirScale Indoor (ASiR) systems in a range of indoor locations, including shopping malls and office buildings.
LG Uplus also uses 5G equipment from Huawei, Samsung and Ericsson. The operator launched 5G service in April 2019 along with rivals SK Telecom and KT.
In July 2022, LG Uplus secured an additional 20 megahertz of spectrum to use for 5G, according to Korean press reports.
The Ministry of Science and ICT allocated the 3.4-3.42 GHz frequency band to LG Uplus, in addition to the 3.42 to 3.5 GHz spectrum that the telecom company bought in 2018.
Last month, the Korean government announced plans to award spectrum in the 28 GHz band to a new mobile operator in a move to boost competition in the domestic mobile market.
The new operator will be given the priority to use one of the two frequency bands in the 28 GHz band, while the other band will be allocated three years after the first operator launches the service, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The new operator will be the only service provider in the 28 GHz band during an initial three-year period in order to be able to secure its market position, according to the report. Financial benefits, including tax benefits and loans, will also be provided to the new entrant, the ministry added.
The ICT ministry also highlighted that it will start the process to select a new 5G operator in the second quarter of 2023.
Last month, the Korean government had cancelled the spectrum licenses in the 28 GHz band that had been previously allocated to local operators for 5G deployments, due to the lack of investment and missed rollout requirements.
As a result, local operators KT and LG Uplus lost the right to use the 28 GHz frequencies they had won in a spectrum auction in 2018. Meanwhile, South Korea’s largest mobile operator, SK Telecom, had its use time of the 28 GHz spectrum reduced by six months.
